Single, young, un-domestic professional trying to find her way in the land of the cubicle and in a new city.

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If you read this on May 12, then it is my birthday!! 25 and cue the quarter life crisis. I’ve had many a ramble on this here Internet space about turning 25 and “OMG MY LIFE ISN’T WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS AHH” and “all my friends have their lives together and I don’t!!!” 22-24 was totally fine, but 25 just seems like a different playing field, overall just different. 25 still freaks me out. I’m halfway through my twenties! Eek! Most of my life I’ve felt the number or stage didn’t reflect where I was. I remember doing a free write in high school creative writing class rambling that I couldn’t believe I was a senior. The seniors before me had been so old! They were so mature! I didn’t feel I looked like they did, knew what they did, or were as cool/sophisticated (ha) as they were. How was I in their position so quickly? I felt being a high school senior was sprung upon me and I hadn’t met any requirements to prove I was ready yet no one had noticed and just made me play the part of one anyway.

I’m feeling okay about 25 (for now). Meanwhile my parents are freaking out more with every passing day. On Easter my dad leaned in to me at church and whispered, “You’re going to be 25 in less than a month. Are you ever planning on getting married? Will I ever walk you down this [church] aisle?” and every time my mom calls lately she asks if I’m “even trying” to get a boyfriend. Now I just roll my eyes and try to shrug it off at how they value 25. I’m a lot happier than I was on my 24th birthday, so that’s what I am using as my measuring stick. Life is long (hopefully) and now I just stick to what’s meant to happen will happen but am finally accepting I likely have to leave my house more for things to actually happen. 😉

Remember my spin class last year? Horrible memories…me being convinced I would die while standing up and spinning so I took off all of my resistance like a genius. Then I woke up the next day and could barely move. Good times! I still think spinning is a work-out I would like, but I’ve been too intimidated, haha. Rev Cycle Studio opened a mile from my house with Bmore’s top cycle instructors and people have the best things to say about it. I would be like “yeah, yeah, i want to go and try it!” and I honestly meant it but was scared. But luckily Rev dropped a great opportunity right at my feet. A beginners class. Free. Saturday afternoon. Boom. They took away every excuse I could think of. I pulled my usual stunt and booked my bike and picked the dead last row in the corner. I got there and they told me there were 10 people in the class so I could move up a few rows. I still wasn’t sure, but with 10 people in the class it would be uber weird to be by myself in the back corner, haha. A handful of staff and instructors showed up and helped us set up our Schwinn bikes. This was fantastic, since there were so few attendees each staff member could spend time with you explaining everything.

There were ultimately two instructors, Jim and Janet. Janet is a triathlete, and Jim is an accomplished cyclist. At the beginning of the class, Jim explained how to position your body on the bike. Janet primarily lead the class and Jim went around checking on everybody. I remember in the middle of the class thinking “Good God, these two are so kick-ass.” They were so awesome and it was such a great experience for beginners. We did a few climbs and .. guess what .. it was still hard but I managed it much better! I think the Schwinn bike made all the difference. I could see what gear I was at, how far I had gone, calories burned, RPM, etc. Seeing the gear number really helped me for the climbs. Still don’t like the climbs, but I can get through them more easily. I just really like the sitting down part, no surprise there. I still struggled a bit with adjusting my body to the bike. I told Jim (well if we’re being specific, I gasped and panted) that my shoulders hurt and was this normal or was I just being extra wussy? He explained it and helped, but I understand it will still take a few more rides. I walked there and back since it’s only a mile which was great until a thunderstorm rolled in when I was a half a mile from my house with a hoodless jacket. So bad at checking the weather. I sprinted the last few blocks home and my sunglasses fell out of my pocket somewhere which is sad. Anyway…it was marvelous and I am so glad I went! So if you are a Bmore resident who happens to read blogs and haven’t gone yet, go! I’m sure you will be better than I.

I took the day off from work and I’ll probably go back to Rev for a barre class in the morning, then grocery shop, food prep and do laundry. I’m just so crazy. I’ll send you a postcard from the wild side. My mom asked what she could get me for my birthday and I said “protein powder.” Oh how times have changed, haha. I’ll probably go to my favorite bar, get drunk and then ramble about being 25 over a big plate of nachos.

When I signed up for my first 5K, it seemed ages away. I dutifully trained but it still seemed so far away I couldn’t picture actual race day. It seemed like it would never arrive.

Then one day I woke up and found an e-mail in my inbox telling me where to go to pick up my packet.

Packet pick-up took 40 minutes.

The night before, I was excited. I made a big production out of shaving my legs because I read the swimmers in the Olympics did it the night before their first race to shave time off, so I figured what the hell, maybe it will help. Haha.

I woke up on May 11 and I was panicked. I’m not ready, I’m not ready, I’m not ready, I’m not ready. The farthest I’ve actually run on a treadmill is 1.8 miles and that was difficult. How was I going to do this!?!!?!!!?!

Although I knew better, I didn’t and couldn’t eat all day. I was SO NERVOUS. I was convinced anything I ate up would come back up. So I paced around my room alllllll morning. Then I would stop because I thought I would get too tired and have no energy for the race, even though my room is not most definitely not big enough to do that. But then I felt too anxious to be sitting so the pacing would resume. Lather, rinse, repeat for 4 hours.

lots of people waiting to race. this is the worst picture of the crowd that i have, but the only one that included the chick in the wedding dress. priorities.

I ran it with my roommate, friend from college, and their co-workers. Baltimore had two races- 9 AM and 2 PM. 25,000 people were registered!! While you waited to start the race, the Color Run staff – I kinda want their jobs, they were so cool – threw free swag out into the crowd. They gave out color packets at packet pick-up so we played with that and got colorful before the race even started. They also had two Zumba instructors set up on a big stage in the back leading at least 100-150 people in Zumba routines. Zumba fit perfectly with the energetic buzz of the Color Run.

There were a number of parents who ran with their kids in strollers, which I thought was awesome. While waiting to start, there were annoying pre-teens behind me singing Taylor Swift. Congrats, strangers, you picked the ONE artist I loathe the most. Nice work.

At 2:50, our heat (wave?) finally started. I was so relieved. I really just wanted to get going and get this damn thing over with. As we were finally underway, I did fine for a while. There were no markers, I don’t have a fancy cool Garmin watch and I’m a terrible estimate of distances so I don’t know when but eventually, I got tired.

Our group split up and got separated. I stopped running for a little– I was hot, tired, STARVING and thirsty– and started employing some dazzling jog-walk tactic for 8-10 minutes. It was a terrible tactic, as it was so hard to get my legs pumping again after walking. Nearly all of the people nearby were walking so that made it especially hard to get myself going again – and stay going – when everyone around me was walking. So that was the part when I had to dig in mentally because I knew I’d be so annoyed with myself later if I walked when I was more than capable of running.

I assumed I’d never catch up to anyone from my group again so I was really excited when I spotted some of them ahead. I thought, wow this must mean I can run really fast!

The race was really fun. I knew the color stations were intense and that you want to avoid getting the color in your eyes or mouth, but I didn’t count on not being able to see as you ran through it! The color was just everywhere and clouded your vision. I wound up putting my shirt over my mouth when it got bad so I wouldn’t breathe it in.

One of the funniest sights all day was a teenager, running backwards to pelt his friends with color, turned just in time to run smack into a dumpster.

The route was weird (Baltimore problem, not a Color Run problem) so at one point the large wave we were running and got confused on where to go, and there was nobody there to direct. Half went one way, half went the other.

Crossing the finish line was exciting. My first thought was something like “THANK GOD IT’S OVER!” We started at 2:50-ish and when I remembered to look at my I-phone, it was 3:55 and we’d been done for about 20 minutes. So I’d estimate it took us 40 minutes. Give or take.

somewhere toward the end i decided to wear my hat backwards. ????? this is right after i crossed the finish line!!

the self-appointed color victor.

i think i wore my wristband too tight.

Then we were trying to figure out where to go and what to do. We went to one bar and had a few beers, then went to another bar to get food. It was so cool to walk through the streets of Baltimore and see practically everybody on the streets looking like a colorful mess. I was all but salivating at the idea of food. When the waitress came out with my entree and was scanning the bar to figure out who it belonged to, I all but shouted at her “THAT’S MINE!” like some bratty two year old on the playground.

After I successfully stuffed my face, we left the bar only to discover that it was pouring. At least the rain had held off for the two races. When I got home, I looked like this.

Colorfully soaked. the last “selfie” i promise.

I bought this hat for $5 at Walmart. Best purchase EVER. It kept the color out of my eyes, which was essential, and now with all the color, looks really cool. If you run a Color Run, don’t go without a hat or sunglasses.

Another piece of unsolicited advice, the color really does get everywhere. It soaked through my shirt, my shoes and my socks. It was all over my stomach and back which I did not expect. It also has not yet come out of my favorite white (i guess that’s my own fault) sports bra. Most of it came out for the most part on all other articles of clothing.

If you are a non-runner reading this and you want to run a 5k, the Color Run is the best one to start with. Of course I have absolutely nothing to compare it to, but the atmosphere is just fun and relaxed. Everyone is just excited to be there and anxious to color themselves and look like a mess. The race is not timed. Nobody is there to set any PR’s. People of all shapes and sizes show up to have a good time being active. The majority of people I saw were walking the whole time. Somewhere in the middle of the race I was overcome with happiness and gratitude for the Color Run’s existence because it gets people out there. The only reason I did a 5K was because it was The Color Run. So, it’s a beautiful thing. Can’t wait to do it again in July in Philly. Hopefully by then, I can run the whole thing. I will most definitely eat beforehand, ha.

I’m glad it’s done, and I’m SOOOOOOO glad I did it. I feel so proud and excited. First race, first 5K ever: DONE!!!!!! The idea of a 5K seemed way out of reach (readers who have done a half or full marathon, feel free to have a laugh at my expense) because I was lazy and out of shape so that I actually did one and ran for most of it makes me deliriously giddy. I trained hard for something and did it! Who knew?! I feel like this is indisputable proof that I actually can get in shape and that my body and I can work in tandem to do whatever we want whether it be classes, races, etc.